The government spent about £5.8 million on catering materials in 2025/26.
The figure was released in a Treasury answer to a written Tynwald question from Douglas East MHK Andy Saunders.
Saunders had asked what the government’s annual spend was on food procurement, and of that what percentage was procured through Manx suppliers and what percentage was Manx origin foodstuffs.
Treasury Minister Michael Crowe said the Treasury was not involved directly in the procurement of food or other goods for the various departments.
But he added: “Treasury does manage the government’s accounting system (AX) where those bodies procuring ‘foodstuffs’ will record spend data relating to those purchases.
“For the financial year 2025/2026, data contained within AX indicates a total spend of £5,848,320, excluding VAT, within the ‘Materials – Catering’ category.”
That figure, he said, did not include the Isle of Man Post Office or the Manx Utilities Authority, whose expenditure was not managed throguh the government’s accounting system.
On the total, he added: “This figure is likely to include some elements of non-food related catering spend, such as packaging and cleaning materials as this type of spend is not recorded separately in the accounts.”
Where the Money Went
Of the money spent, 83.1% (£4.862 million) was with Isle of Man suppliers; 3.1% (£178,713), with non-Isle of Man supplies and 13.8% (£807,908) with “other”.
The “other” category refers to the spend not paid through the supplier ledger in the accounting system.
“This primarily relates to amounts incurred through government purchase cards and which is allocated directly to the appropriate expense category within the general ledger,” said Crowe.
He added: “The government’s accounting system does not record data relating to the country of origin of the individual items being purchased, therefore Treasury is unable to provide a percentage figure pertaining to ‘foodstuffs’ of Manx-origin.”